OMRON, a global technology company, recently announced a series of cash and product donations to local charities through OMRON Foundation, its charitable arm in the United States, and through OMRON Healthcare. This funding is meant to help communities weather a range of challenges caused by the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
“OMRON’s mission is to improve lives and contribute to a better society, and now is one of the most important times to be helping out our communities,” says Nigel Blakeway, chairman and chief executive officer of OMRON Management Center of America and president of OMRON Foundation. “We are thankful for the frontline workers that are supporting the society and we are determined to assist the people in the greatest need right now.”
OMRON Foundation is donating $25,000 to a number of charities – including childcare resources, emergency support for families and small businesses, and support for hospitals and clinics – that are assisting those in greatest need right now, along with another $20,000 to food banks in communities near OMRON facilities to help keep pantries stocked. Charities currently supported by OMRON include:
- Child Care Resources (CCR) that are providing childcare for essential COVID-19 workers who are having difficulty caring for their children in the Seattle area.
- Valley Care Charitable Foundation, which is providing personal protective equipment and needed supplies to frontline medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients at Stanford Valley Care Hospital in Pleasanton, CA.
- LA Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund, which is providing support for families and small businesses (meals, childcare), relief of healthcare workers (childcare), critical healthcare equipment (PPE, testing kits, etc.), shelters and hygiene stations for homeless in the greater Los Angeles area.
- Direct Relief, which is supporting hospitals and clinics in the hardest-hit areas of the US, namely, New York City, as well as Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and other hot spots to help with COVID-19 testing, triaging of patients, and ICU I/V medications. In addition, OMRON Healthcare is donating 500 blood pressure monitors to Direct Relief for critical areas around the U.S.
- Food banks in several communities located near OMRON facilities across the United States.
To support demand for the company’s products and services, OMRON has taken actions to maintain some of its manufacturing operations to support life science industry customers with critical needs in lab automation and the production of test-kits and vaccines.
OMRON facilities have taken measures to ensure safety is a top priority. Where employees cannot work remotely, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment measures have been implemented. These include installation of physical barriers, employee temperature checks, shift adjustments, physical distancing, good hygiene practices and regular work area sanitization. The company has also implemented enhanced paid leave policies.
“Employee safety is our top priority at all times,” says Jim Eberhart, president and chief operating officer of OMRON Management Center of America. “We are mindful of safety at our manufacturing facilities across the Americas during this time and we are taking extra steps to help keep our people and their families safe and healthy.”
In addition, OMRON employees across the country are also making individual contributions by joining in the effort to make personal protective gear (PPE) by hand-sewing hundreds of face masks and 3D-printing face shields for frontline healthcare workers at hospitals across the country.
To learn more about OMRON’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas, please visit automation.omron.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
Filed Under: Hack the Crisis: Engineering through COVID-19
